The Orange County Sheriff’s Office has released video showing the moment a deputy opened fire on a man after a scuffle earlier this month.
According to investigators, the incident happened on the morning of June 7 behind a discount store in Pine Hills.
At the time, 24-year-old Charles St. Fleur came out from behind the business, prompting a nearby deputy to ask what he was doing, the sheriff’s office announced.
While St. Fleur jumped the fence as though he were going to speak with the deputy, he instead snatched a bag from the ground and tried to flee, causing the deputy to grab hold of him, investigators added.
The footage then shows St. Fleur fighting with the deputy, punching him several times as the deputy tried to detain him.
But during the scuffle, the deputy flipped St. Fleur to the ground, causing a firearm to fly out of St. Fleur’s hand, the video reveals.
As the fight continues, St. Fleur could also be seen throwing a second firearm toward the back of the parking lot, deputies explained.
St. Fleur then managed to escape from the deputy’s grasp, forcing the deputy to the ground and punching him in the head at least 10 times, deputies said.
Afterward, St. Fleur ran back and tossed the first firearm over the fence, deputies stated. He then ran to the second firearm, turned toward the deputy, and tossed that gun over the fence, too.
While this was happening, the video shows the deputy get up and fire his weapon at St. Fleur, bringing him to the ground.
According to the sheriff’s office, both St. Fleur and the deputy were taken to the hospital for treatment.
The deputy was later released, and St. Fleur was ultimately arrested on charges of aggravated battery and two counts of carrying a concealed weapon by a convicted felon.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement will investigate the shooting before turning its findings over to the state attorney’s office. An interval review within the sheriff’s office is pending completion of that second step, Orange County Sheriff Mina said.
Meanwhile, the full footage of the incident can be found at the top of this article.
